Range trip w/my son

Guy Miner

Master Loader
Apr 6, 2006
17,848
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With bear season rapidly approaching, we made another range trip today. My son shot his Ruger Blackhawk .45 Colt, with some very mild 250 gr lead bullet ammo, as well as the old Mauser his great-grandfather had built into a .257 Wby back in the late 1940's. That rifle is now shooting every time, but it's still got some feeding glitches that need to be ironed out. I think he'll be hunting mostly with the .30-06 again this year. We might have the .257 sorted out by November for whitetail hunting... Maybe.

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I thoroughly enjoyed shooting the .30-30 Glenfield with the little 2.5x Leupold atop. Light, handy package that's very quick to get into action and surprisingly accurate. My handload is a 170 gr Remington "Core Lokt" bullet over 35 grains of BL-C(2) for velocity very similar to factory ammo and pleasing accuracy. Sure is a peach to shoot.

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Also had the .375 along, and took a few shots with it as well. Nice... That's a solid thump for sure when it fires!
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Was back to using the same load as I used for my 2010 bear hunt; a 260 gr Nosler AccuBond over RL-15 for a mild 2620 fps. Very nice shooting.

We both missed a couple of shots at a rockchuck scampering across the boulders downrange... Fun trying though... :grin:
 
Guy, anytime you can get out to the range is a good day :wink: but to be there with your son is a great day.
Also I am glad that you took enough power in those 2 rifles for the wilely rockchuck.

Blessings,
Dan
 
Sounds as if you fellows are serious about finding bear to bring home this fall. It is always a great day when you can be with your children at the range.
 
Cool Guy sounds like a great time.
I had passed on an oppritunity for a used just like that 3-4 yrs back, for $525,,,wish I hadn't now!!!!
 
Nice to see he two of you out there together. :grin: Is your son going on your pronghorn hunt? I see you got the keys back for the Jeep.... :grin: CL
 
Nice afternoon Guy. Thanks for sharing the pictures. Your boy sure is getting big. Probably just like mine, a non-stop eating machine!
 
Guy:

What scope is on your Ruger 375? Same scope you shot the bear with?
 
Thanks for the kind comments guys. My son looks younger than he is, he's 21 now and a college student. He won't be going on the Wyoming hunt as he can't take the time away from his studies. I figure after he's graduated college, I'll take him on some kind of cool, out-of-state hunt. Big? He's nearly 6' tall, but I don't think he weighs over 150... maybe a little over. Not much meat on those bones. He's more of a bicyclist/cross-country ski guy than a weight lifter kind of guy.

I think I'm about to cry "uncle" on this old Mauser. It shoots now, but still has issues. For what I've put into it, I could have bought the young man a brand spanking new .257 Weatherby Vanguard that weighs 3 lbs less, is more accurate and more reliable... Might be time to retire this one honorably and start looking for a newer .257 - would like to keep the cartridge, since it's such a zinger and I've got a mess of brass, bullets and loading dies for it.

Fotis - I had an older 2-7x Redfield on the Ruger when I shot the bear. Replaced it not long after with this 1.5-5x Leupold, which I like a lot. Not that the Redfield was a bad scope, in fact it's on a certain .300 WSM Model 70 right now...

Re the Number One - I need to come up with a reduced recoil load for it. Maybe cast bullets? Have a box of them on hand, and another box of 220 gr Hornady bullets intended for the much less powerful .375 Win. It's supposed to be pretty easy to load this thing down to .375 Win power levels. I'd like to do that instead of dishing out 4,000+ fpe with every shot.

Guess I could always just get a matching one in .30-06 and call it good... :grin:

Guy
 
Great pictures Guy. Looks like a great day at the range. Hopefully you can get that 257 sorted out. It is such a cool old rifle.

Very cool set up with the 30-30. That looks like a very nice set up.
 
Super pictures Guy!
I luv seeing the family hunt\range pictures. A lot of the ole family activities with many familys today has drifted away.

BTW - my first bear was at 16 with an "ole handme down from Dad" Winchester M94 30-30 iron sights at about 40 feet (no lie). We both surprised each other. I just happened to come out of the surprise mode first. :)
 
Guy Miner":22ajghci said:
Re the Number One - I need to come up with a reduced recoil load for it. Maybe cast bullets? Have a box of them on hand, and another box of 220 gr Hornady bullets intended for the much less powerful .375 Win. It's supposed to be pretty easy to load this thing down to .375 Win power levels. I'd like to do that instead of dishing out 4,000+ fpe with every shot.

Guess I could always just get a matching one in .30-06 and call it good... :grin:

Guy

Guy, A shooting mentor of mine from 40 years ago shot his Ruger #1 375 H&H almost exclusively with Lyman cast bullets. He wasn't a hunter or involved in competition, necessarily, but did love shooting/casting/handloading and was the finest shot with a handgun I've seen. His 375 was accurate enough with cast bullets to maintain his interest for a very long time. BT
 
"Re the Number One - I need to come up with a reduced recoil load for it. Maybe cast bullets?"

Guy. A load that shoots real good in my Ruger #1 .375 H&H is 49.0 gr. of IMR-4895 and the RCBS #37-250-FN. The bullet casts out at 275 gr. in my alloy. I size the bullets .002" over groove diameter. I've never chronographed the load but recoil is about like a 150 gr. 30-06 load. Accuracy runs in the 1.50" range if I do my part. My rifle prefers a one grain tuft of dacron seated lightly over the powder but you can try it both ways to see what your gun prefers. I got the load from a two part article in the Rifleman by C.E. Harris. If you don't have it, I can make you a copy.
Paul B.
 
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